45 Size

[kartooo]

i had a chambering problem when sized to .452 and using a seating/crimp combo die.
went to a separate seating and separate crimp die and problem solved.

[DougGuy]

I never used anything but .452" in all my 45s but the Kahr pistol I have now won't go fully into battery with anything but a .451" and it's a PITA to find cast boolits that are sized .451" most days. On the other hand, the diminutive little 3.5" barreled gun is surprisingly accurate so I won't b*tch about having to feed it .451" boolits.

[NHPaul]

my 1911's and 45 colt newvaquero all like 452 just fine.

[Char-Gar]

I sized my bullets in a Lyman .452 die for many years and was completely satisfied for years. One day I put a mic on a sized bullet and it was .453. The die was out of spec. I bought new .452 and .451 dies and sized true to specs.

I then sized thousands of bullets with the two new dies. When it was all over I could see no difference between .451, .452, and .453 in my pistols. I settled on .452 for no particular reason related to performance

Bottom line is, I take these types of discussions with a grain of salt. A thou one way or another may make a difference in a few folks pistols, but for the majority of us that shoot 1911 pistols in the original barrel and chamber specs there will be no significant difference.

[DougGuy]

A thou one way or another may make a difference in a few folks pistols, but for the majority of us that shoot 1911 pistols in the original barrel and chamber specs there will be no significant difference.

You can thank John Moses Browning for that, as the trials of 1908 included rusty barrels, sand, badly corroded brass and bullets, bent cases, faulty magazines, anything and everything the U.S. Army could come up with to make the vaunted 1911 fail. Which it did not. The chamber specs if adhered to, would not distinguish .001" boolit diameter.

Nowdays, some makers are chambering their barrels on the tight side of things, and quite a few loads won't function in those guns. I liked it the old way better.

[shorty500M]

alloy hardness and type of alloy along with as cast diameter will all play an effect on finished size as will actual diameter of the die itself. Over years have collected and or made dies for .451 , .452, .454, .456, .457, .458 and .459. Use the lyman .451 for acp and certain colt/casull slugs to get a true .452 slug. Normally my colt chambered revolvers get my .452 die for a .4525-.453 slug. Rarely use .454 and .456 dies. Use .457 to fit throats on one oversive m25 with a .454 dia. Gro0ve. Use .458 in my BFR .45-70 and the .459 for my marlin and sharps

[USSR]

I sized my bullets in a Lyman .452 die for many years and was completely satisfied for years. One day I put a mic on a sized bullet and it was .453. The die was out of spec.

I sized my .45 ACP bullets with a .452" die, and found my loads would not chamber reliably in my Gold Cup. Turns out my bullets were coming out of the die at .453". So, bought a .451" die. Guess what size they come out of that die at? .452". Hey, at least they are consistent.

Don

[Char-Gar]

I sized my .45 ACP bullets with a .452" die, and found my loads would not chamber reliably in my Gold Cup. Turns out my bullets were coming out of the die at .453". So, bought a .451" die. Guess what size they come out of that die at? .452". Hey, at least they are consistent.Don

Before we get too worked up at the die makers, let's realize that when the alloy is swaged in the die, there will be some springback when it gets free of the squeeze. This will vary depending on caliber and alloy. Sometimes it is too small to be measured with the tools we have and sometimes it can be measured with ease. Most of the time, it won't make a difference in how the bullet performs, but sometimes like your case it will.

This is just one of the annoying things we have to put up with and the reason we tend to collect sizing dies.

So very often folks will just buy a die and have at it, thinking the number marked on the die will be the size of the bullet that comes out of it. Then in the case of the 45 ACP, they use a roll crimp that enlarges the case mouth and then come here with their angst.

The 45 ACP round is very easy to load with cast bullets and produce rounds that function through the pistol and produce first rate accuracy. However there are cetain basic that must be followed and either folks don't know the basics or think they can reinvent the wheel and do it "their way". The former folks problems can be fixed with information but there is no fix for the latter types. I have often noted that "stubborn" and "stupid", both begin with the letter "s". There must be some kind of connection.

[garym1a2]

I size to .452 and it runs well in my Kimber 1911 and my factory barrell Glock 21SF. I like the boolits with the fat lube groove and a soft lube.

[USSR]

Char-Gar,

Not "worked up" at all, just making a comment.

The 45 ACP round is very easy to load with cast bullets and produce rounds that function through the pistol and produce first rate accuracy. However there are cetain basic that must be followed and either folks don't know the basics or think they can reinvent the wheel and do it "their way". The former folks problems can be fixed with information but there is no fix for the latter types. I have often noted that "stubborn" and "stupid", both begin with the letter "s". There must be some kind of connection.

Also not a neophyte. However, you may be on to something with "s". What comes to my mind is "surly" and "stick-it".

Don

[lksmith]

.452 if it'll chamber. Might cause a little extra pressure vs 451, but that is unlikely and since 45ACP is such a low pressure round it's not enough to be concerned.
I have sized both .451 and .452 and can't tell any difference between the 2 accuracy wise, and the .451 seem to jam a little less in my gun, so that's what I size to

[Char-Gar]

[QUOTE=USSR;2258877]Char-Gar,

Not "worked up" at all, just making


Also not a neophyte. However, you may be on to something with "s". What comes to my mind is "surly" and "stick-it".

Just a phrase not to be taken literally, certainly nothing to get worked up about.

[9.3X62AL]

I've used the sized boolits from a .452" RCBS H&I die for close to 30 years now. As best I can tell with my mic, there is about a .0004" "spread" in sized diameters from WW metal to 92/6/2 alloy. The "mean" is a tenth or so over .452". These castings so processed have run well in a number of 45 ACP pistols and a couple revolvers. If it ain't broke, I say don't try fixing it. Just for grins, I tried some .454"-sized Lee 230 TCs in a Glock 21 some time ago.......they fed and functioned as well as those sized @ .452".